scholarly journals A Web Application About Herd Immunity Using Personalized Avatars: Development Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hina Hakim ◽  
Julie A Bettinger ◽  
Christine T Chambers ◽  
S Michelle Driedger ◽  
Eve Dubé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Skin Response

BACKGROUND <i>Herd immunity</i> or <i>community immunity</i> refers to the reduced risk of infection among susceptible individuals in a population through the presence and proximity of immune individuals. Recent studies suggest that improving the understanding of community immunity may increase intentions to get vaccinated. OBJECTIVE This study aims to design a web application about community immunity and optimize it based on users’ cognitive and emotional responses. METHODS Our multidisciplinary team developed a web application about community immunity to communicate epidemiological evidence in a personalized way. In our application, people build their own community by creating an avatar representing themselves and 8 other avatars representing people around them, for example, their family or coworkers. The application integrates these avatars in a 2-min visualization showing how different parameters (eg, vaccine coverage, and contact within communities) influence community immunity. We predefined communication goals, created prototype visualizations, and tested four iterative versions of our visualization in a university-based human-computer interaction laboratory and community-based settings (a cafeteria, two shopping malls, and a public library). Data included psychophysiological measures (eye tracking, galvanic skin response, facial emotion recognition, and electroencephalogram) to assess participants’ cognitive and affective responses to the visualization and verbal feedback to assess their interpretations of the visualization’s content and messaging. RESULTS Among 110 participants across all four cycles, 68 (61.8%) were women and 38 (34.5%) were men (4/110, 3.6%; not reported), with a mean age of 38 (SD 17) years. More than half (65/110, 59.0%) of participants reported having a university-level education. Iterative changes across the cycles included adding the ability for users to create their own avatars, specific signals about who was represented by the different avatars, using color and movement to indicate protection or lack of protection from infectious disease, and changes to terminology to ensure clarity for people with varying educational backgrounds. Overall, we observed 3 generalizable findings. First, visualization does indeed appear to be a promising medium for conveying what community immunity is and how it works. Second, by involving multiple users in an iterative design process, it is possible to create a short and simple visualization that clearly conveys a complex topic. Finally, evaluating users’ emotional responses during the design process, in addition to their cognitive responses, offers insights that help inform the final design of an intervention. CONCLUSIONS Visualization with personalized avatars may help people understand their individual roles in population health. Our app showed promise as a method of communicating the relationship between individual behavior and community health. The next steps will include assessing the effects of the application on risk perception, knowledge, and vaccination intentions in a randomized controlled trial. This study offers a potential road map for designing health communication materials for complex topics such as community immunity.

scholarly journals A Web Application About Herd Immunity Using Personalized Avatars: Development Study

10.2196/20113 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. e20113
Author(s):  
Hina Hakim ◽  
Julie A Bettinger ◽  
Christine T Chambers ◽  
S Michelle Driedger ◽  
Eve Dubé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Skin Response

Background Herd immunity or community immunity refers to the reduced risk of infection among susceptible individuals in a population through the presence and proximity of immune individuals. Recent studies suggest that improving the understanding of community immunity may increase intentions to get vaccinated. Objective This study aims to design a web application about community immunity and optimize it based on users’ cognitive and emotional responses. Methods Our multidisciplinary team developed a web application about community immunity to communicate epidemiological evidence in a personalized way. In our application, people build their own community by creating an avatar representing themselves and 8 other avatars representing people around them, for example, their family or coworkers. The application integrates these avatars in a 2-min visualization showing how different parameters (eg, vaccine coverage, and contact within communities) influence community immunity. We predefined communication goals, created prototype visualizations, and tested four iterative versions of our visualization in a university-based human-computer interaction laboratory and community-based settings (a cafeteria, two shopping malls, and a public library). Data included psychophysiological measures (eye tracking, galvanic skin response, facial emotion recognition, and electroencephalogram) to assess participants’ cognitive and affective responses to the visualization and verbal feedback to assess their interpretations of the visualization’s content and messaging. Results Among 110 participants across all four cycles, 68 (61.8%) were women and 38 (34.5%) were men (4/110, 3.6%; not reported), with a mean age of 38 (SD 17) years. More than half (65/110, 59.0%) of participants reported having a university-level education. Iterative changes across the cycles included adding the ability for users to create their own avatars, specific signals about who was represented by the different avatars, using color and movement to indicate protection or lack of protection from infectious disease, and changes to terminology to ensure clarity for people with varying educational backgrounds. Overall, we observed 3 generalizable findings. First, visualization does indeed appear to be a promising medium for conveying what community immunity is and how it works. Second, by involving multiple users in an iterative design process, it is possible to create a short and simple visualization that clearly conveys a complex topic. Finally, evaluating users’ emotional responses during the design process, in addition to their cognitive responses, offers insights that help inform the final design of an intervention. Conclusions Visualization with personalized avatars may help people understand their individual roles in population health. Our app showed promise as a method of communicating the relationship between individual behavior and community health. The next steps will include assessing the effects of the application on risk perception, knowledge, and vaccination intentions in a randomized controlled trial. This study offers a potential road map for designing health communication materials for complex topics such as community immunity.

scholarly journals A Web Application About Herd Immunity Using Personalized Avatars: Development Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hina Hakim ◽  
Julie A. Bettinger ◽  
Christine T. Chambers ◽  
S. Michelle Driedger ◽  
Ève Dubé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Verbal Reports ◽  
Skin Response

Background: ‘Herd immunity’ or ‘community immunity’ refers to the reduced risk of infection among susceptible individuals in a population through the presence and proximity of immune individuals. Recent studies suggest that improving understanding of community immunity may increase intentions to get vaccinated.Objective: We aimed to design a web application about community immunity and optimize it based on viewers’ cognitive and emotional responses.Methods: Our multidisciplinary team developed a web application about community immunity to communicate epidemiological evidence in a personalized way. In our application, people build their own community by creating an avatar representing themselves and 8 other avatars representing people around them; for example, their family or coworkers. The application integrates these avatars in a 2-minute visualization showing how different parameters (e.g., vaccine coverage, contact within communities) influence community immunity. We predefined communication goals, created prototype visualizations, and tested four iterative versions of our visualization in a university-based human-computer interaction laboratory and community-based settings (a cafeteria, two shopping malls, a public library.) Data included psychophysiological measures (eye tracking, galvanic skin response, facial emotion recognition, electroencephalogram) to assess participants’ cognitive and affective (emotional) responses to the visualization, and verbal reports to assess their interpretations of the visualization’s content and messaging.Results and analysis: Participants across all four cycles (N=110 in total) were 62% women and 35% men (4% not reported), with mean age 38 years (SD 17). Fifty-nine percent of participants reported having a university-level education. Iterative changes across the cycles included adding the ability for users to create their own avatars, specific signals about who was represented by the different avatars, using colour and movement to indicate protection or lack of protection from infectious disease, and changes to terminology to ensure clarity for people with varying educational backgrounds. Overall, we observed 3 generalizable findings. First, visualization does indeed appear to be a promising medium for conveying what community immunity is and how it works. Second, by involving multiple users in an iterative design process, it is possible to create a short and simple visualization that clearly conveys a complex topic. Third and finally, evaluating users’ emotional responses during the design process, in addition to their cognitive responses, offers insights and findings that help inform the final design of an intervention. Conclusions: Visualizations with personalized avatars may help people understand their individual roles in population health. Our application showed promise as a method of communicating the relationship between individual behaviour and community health. Next steps will include assessing the effects of the application on risk perception, knowledge, and vaccination intentions in a randomized controlled trial. This study offers a potential roadmap for designing health communication materials for complex topics such as community immunity.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Vaccine Intention among Healthcare Workers in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 835
Author(s):  
Mohammed Noushad ◽  
Mohammad Zakaria Nassani ◽  
Anas B. Alsalhani ◽  
Pradeep Koppolu ◽  
Fayez Hussain Niazi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Vaccination Campaign ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Positive Sign ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Public Health Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused largescale morbidity and mortality and a tremendous burden on the healthcare system. Healthcare workers (HCWs) require adequate protection to avoid onward transmission and minimize burden on the healthcare system. Moreover, HCWs can also influence the general public into accepting the COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, determining COVID-19 vaccine intention among HCWs is of paramount importance to plan tailor-made public health strategies to maximize vaccine coverage. A structured questionnaire was administered in February and March 2021 among HCWs in Saudi Arabia using convenience sampling, proceeding the launch of the vaccination campaign. HCWs from all administrative regions of Saudi Arabia were included in the study. In total, 674 out of 1124 HCWs responded and completed the survey (response rate 59.9%). About 65 percent of the HCWs intended to get vaccinated. The intention to vaccinate was significantly higher among HCWs 50 years of age or older, Saudi nationals and those who followed the updates about COVID-19 vaccines (p < 0.05). The high percentage (26 percent) of those who were undecided in getting vaccinated is a positive sign. As the vaccination campaign gathers pace, the attitude is expected to change over time. Emphasis should be on planning healthcare strategies to convince the undecided HCWs into accepting the vaccine in order to achieve the coverage required to achieve herd immunity.

scholarly journals Progression from external pilot to definitive randomised controlled trial: a methodological review of progression criteria reporting

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e048178
Author(s):  
Katie Mellor ◽  
Saskia Eddy ◽  
Nicholas Peckham ◽  
Christine M Bond ◽  
Michael J Campbell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Pilot Trial ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Feasibility Studies ◽  
Methodological Review ◽  
Pilot Trials ◽  
Trial Protocols ◽  
Randomised Controlled

ObjectivesPrespecified progression criteria can inform the decision to progress from an external randomised pilot trial to a definitive randomised controlled trial. We assessed the characteristics of progression criteria reported in external randomised pilot trial protocols and results publications, including whether progression criteria were specified a priori and mentioned in prepublication peer reviewer reports.Study designMethodological review.MethodsWe searched four journals through PubMed: British Medical Journal Open, Pilot and Feasibility Studies, Trials and Public Library of Science One. Eligible publications reported external randomised pilot trial protocols or results, were published between January 2018 and December 2019 and reported progression criteria. We double data extracted 25% of the included publications. Here we report the progression criteria characteristics.ResultsWe included 160 publications (123 protocols and 37 completed trials). Recruitment and retention were the most frequent indicators contributing to progression criteria. Progression criteria were mostly reported as distinct thresholds (eg, achieving a specific target; 133/160, 83%). Less than a third of the planned and completed pilot trials that included qualitative research reported how these findings would contribute towards progression criteria (34/108, 31%). The publications seldom stated who established the progression criteria (12/160, 7.5%) or provided rationale or justification for progression criteria (44/160, 28%). Most completed pilot trials reported the intention to proceed to a definitive trial (30/37, 81%), but less than half strictly met all of their progression criteria (17/37, 46%). Prepublication peer reviewer reports were available for 153/160 publications (96%). Peer reviewer reports for 86/153 (56%) publications mentioned progression criteria, with peer reviewers of 35 publications commenting that progression criteria appeared not to be specified.ConclusionsMany external randomised pilot trial publications did not adequately report or propose prespecified progression criteria to inform whether to proceed to a future definitive randomised controlled trial.

scholarly journals The Effects of Earthquake Experience on Disaster Education for Children and Teens

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (15) ◽  
pp. 5347
Author(s):  
Da-Hye Yeon ◽  
Ji-Bum Chung ◽  
Dong-Hyeon Im
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Educational Effectiveness ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
School Students ◽  
Disaster Experience ◽  
Disaster Education

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors of disaster experience that impact the effectiveness of disaster education on school students (children and teens). Following the magnitude 5.4 Pohang earthquake in 2017, Pohang City Hall conducted a school earthquake disaster education program over a period of four months (August to November) in 2018. Professors and graduate students from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology taught around 5000 middle and high school students, while also conducting surveys. The experiences of the Pohang earthquake were analyzed and divided into cognitive responses and emotional responses. Students who felt activated emotional responses, surprise and fear, but not joy, tended to have more effective educational experiences. On the other hand, unpleasant emotional reactions, such as anger and sadness, had a negative effect on educational effectiveness. The cognitive response, which is perceived intensity in this research, did not impact educational effectiveness significantly. These results imply that the emotional responses of students are more important than their cognitive responses in providing a disaster education program. This means that even though an earthquake may be small in magnitude and may not cause physical damage, we still need to provide immediate disaster education to the children and teens if they are surprised and afraid of future disasters.

scholarly journals COVID-19 attack ratio among children critically depends on the time to removal and activity levels

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhong Wu ◽  
Nicola Luigi Bragazzi ◽  
Francesca Scarabel ◽  
Zachary McCarthy ◽  
Jummy David ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Total Population ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Rapid Testing ◽  
Dynamics Model ◽  
Canadian Population ◽  
Social Mixing ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
The Relationship

The attack ratio in a subpopulation is defined as the total number of infections over the total number of individuals in this subpopulation. Using a methodology based on modified age-stratified transmission dynamics model, we estimated the attack ratio of COVID-19 among children (individuals 0-11 years) in Ontario, Canada when a large proportion of individuals eligible for vaccination (age 12 and above) are vaccinated to achieve herd immunity among this subpopulation, or the effective herd immunity with additional physical distancing measures (hence effective herd immunity). We describe the relationship between this attack ratio among children, the time to remove infected individuals from the transmission chain and the children-to-children daily contact rate, while considering the increased transmissibility of virus variants (using the Delta variant as an example). We further illustrate the generality and applicability of the methodology established by performing an analysis of the attack ratio of COVID-19 among children in the Canadian population. The clinical attack ratio, the number of symptomatic infections over the total population can be informed from the attack ratio, and both can be reduced substantially via a combination of higher vaccine coverage in the vaccine eligible population, reduced social mixing among children, and rapid testing and isolation.

scholarly journals Pussy power

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-184
Author(s):  
Kai Huang ◽  
Elena Nicoladis
Keyword(s):  
Galvanic Skin Response ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
First Language ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Skin Response ◽  
French And English ◽  
Taboo Words

Some previous research has suggested that words in multlinguals’ first language, particularly taboo words, evoke a greater emotional response than words in any subsequent language. In the present study, we elicited French-English bilinguals’ emotional responses to words in both languages. We expected taboo words to evoke higher emotional response than positive or negative words in both languages. We tested the hypothesis that the earlier that bilinguals had acquired the language, the higher the emotional responses. French-English bilinguals with long exposure to both French and English participated. Their galvanic skin response (GSR) was measured as they processed positive (e.g., mother), negative (e.g., war) and taboo (e.g., pussy) words in both French and English. As predicted, GSR responses to taboo words were high in both languages. Surprisingly, English taboo words elicited higher GSR responses than French ones and age of acquisition was not related to GSR. We argue that these results are related to the context in which this study took place (i.e., an English majority context). If this interpretation is correct, then bilinguals’ emotional response to words could be more strongly linked to recent emotional interactions than to childhood experiences.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against delta variant (B.1.617.2): A meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashidul Alam Mahumud ◽  
Mohammad Afshar Ali ◽  
Satyajit Kundu ◽  
Md Ashfikur Rahman ◽  
Joseph Kihika Kamara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Ratio ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Case Control Studies ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Degree Of Protection ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
High Degree

Abstract ObjectivesThe highly transmissible COVID-19 delta variant (DV) has contributed to the surge in cases and has now been exacerbated the worldwide public health crisis. Several COVID-19 vaccines play a significant role in a high degree of protection against DV. The primary purpose of this meta-analysis is to estimate the pooled effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines against DV in terms of risk ratio (RR) among fully vaccinated, compared to unvaccinated populations.MethodsWe carried out a systematic review with meta-analysis of original studies focused on COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against B.1.617.2 clinical perspective among fully COVID-19 vaccinated populations, compared to placebo (unvaccinated populations), published before September 30, 2021. Eleven studies containing data of 17.2 million participants were identified and included in our study. Pooled estimates of COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness (i.e., risk ratio, RR) against delta variant with 95% confidence intervals were assessed using random-effect models. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's regression test and funnel plot to investigate potential sources of heterogeneity and identify any differences in study design.ResultsA total population of 17.2 million (17,200,341 peoples) were screened for the COVID-19 vaccines' effectiveness against delta variant. We found 61.13% of study population were fully vaccinated with 2-dose of COVID-19 vaccines. Weighted pooled incidence of COVID-19 infection was more than double (20.07%) among unvaccinated populations, compared to the fully vaccinated population (8.16%). Overall, the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine against DV was 85% (RR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.07-0.31). The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines varied slidably by study designs, 87% (RR = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.06-0.30) and 84% (RR = 0.16, 95% CI:0.02, 1.64) for cohort and case-control studies, respectively. ConclusionEffectiveness COVID-19 vaccines were noted to offer higher protection against delta variant among populations who received two vaccine doses compared with unvaccinated populations. This finding would help efforts to maximise vaccine coverage (i.e., at least 60 to 70% of the population) with two doses among vulnerable populations to have herd immunity to breat the chain of transmission and gain greater overall population protection more rapidly.

Vaccine coverage, herd immunity and occurrence of canine distemper from 1990–1996 in Finland

Vaccine ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (47) ◽  
pp. 7994-7998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Rikula ◽  
Lasse Nuotio ◽  
Liisa Sihvonen
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Canine Distemper
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